Re:Winter Wars
by Shiro No Kishidan
Summary: 5o years after Aizen's defeat, we meet the next generation of Shinigami to step up to the plate. Who are they and what are their powers? How will these academy students change Soul Society? Note: There will be OCs.
1. Small Beginnings

A/N: Hey everybody! This is Shiro no Kishidan here with my first update of Re: Winter Wars. This story is what happens fifty years (subject to change) later after the winter wars arc and a lot has happened (which means that pairing has for the most part already happened). If you don't understand what's going on that ok because I'll explain it as I go…MWHAHAHA…sorry about that anyways this will feature the children of the main characters but many of the main characters will be involved. I will try my best to stick to canon (although no guarantee with the fullbringer arc.) So without further ado may the story begin. Oh btw lines usually indicate a switch of POV or time leap.

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach. Period. Stop bothering me.

Chapter 1: Small Beginnings

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><p>"<em>Never trust a man wearing an eye patch"<em>

Kaien Kurosaki

Some years later while instructing squad members

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><p>Kaien Kurosaki was a fairly tall boy. According to Rukia he was a splitting image of Kaien Shiba, his namesake. His hair was exactly the same color as his mother's hair color but it was as unkempt as his father's. He wore fairly faded black jeans and a gray t-shirt complete with a long coat that had fur covering the hood, and sleeve openings and a pair of leather shoes. He was also completely lost. "I knew I shouldn't have taken advice for directions from the crazy looking guy with the eye patch." He mumbled as he walked aimlessly around the campus. His morning had not gotten off to a good start. After getting up late he rushed around the house, saying hurried goodbyes and eating breakfast at a breakneck pace. Aunt Kukaku, deciding that Kaien was going to be late, fired him in the general direction of the academy with her cannon. After a rather rough landing he asked the first person he came across for direction. The man was giant, muscular, and scarred. He had an eye patch on and on his shoulder was a short girl with pink hair. After asking for directions he had wondered his way to academy after going around in circles for ½ an hour. Finally he staggered through the gate. He had finally arrived. Kaien let out a sigh of relief and started to walk onto campus only to hear two very loud voices coming from in front of the listing board. He immediately went over and found his cousin, Yukiko Kukichi, and one of his friends, Rin Kira glaring daggers. Kukichi's aura emanated a cold anger while Rin looked mad enough to punch a hole in the class listing board. He sighed already knowing how this would end if he didn't get involved.<p>

"You're a stuck up prick, you worthless ice block!"

"You dare insult my pride, you crazy tomboy!"

"Shut up! You couldn't be less noble if you tried!"

"Watch your mouth when you're addressing the heir to the Kukichi family, apple head!"

"Ice cube!"

"Apple head!"

"Ice cube!"

"Apple head!"

Kaien interrupted both of them, "You two mind explain what's going on?"

Rin immediately perked up, looking for a chance to vent, "While I just asked Ms. Ice queen over here if she could help me find my name on the class listing charts since I could and she started making fun of me."

Yukiko interrupted, "I did no such thing. I just told her that she should reconsider entering the academy if she can't read."

_Cold as ever cousin_ He thought. After a few seconds scanning the board he spoke up, "Um Yukiko I think Rin-chan has a point. None of our names are up here."

"Kaien-san, how many times do I have to tell me to address me properl-… Wait…our names aren't up there. You're kidding right… I studied an unbelievable amount of time, aced my exams, got the letter of acceptance and my name doesn't show up here! This academy has slighted Kukichi-ke for the last time!"

With that Yukiko snapped. A few things happened in the next second. First Yukiko plowed through Kaien and attempted to destroy the school starting with the student listing board. Second Rin jumped clear of Yukiko. Third Yukiko's wild attempts at property based genocide were stopped by the sudden appearance of Jin Ukitake and a boy with sandy-red hair. Trailing close behind them were three others Kaien recognized as Ayame Hitsugaya, Hikari Kyoraku, and Setsuna Hisagi. Jin's trademark grin was out in full force as he quickly explained something to Yukiko whose face light up who in turn grabbed Kaien by his jacket hood and dragged him across the floor. Jin led them through almost the entire academy explaining things to the sandy haired kid that Kaien didn't know until he reached what looked like a giant conference room.

Jin smiled, "Welcome to your classroom."

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><p>Rin Kira was a tomboy in every sense of the word. She was every bit as rambunctious as her mother Rangiku, had a short hair cut and the same hair color as her mother, often threw people she didn't like into trash cans, and was very adventurous. Izuru had often wondered if Rin was at all related to him but never bothered to ask. In truth her head looked like an apple. This morning after getting up five minutes before school she quickly ran out of the house after changing without a second thought about breakfast or anything else for that matter. She wore a loose fitting t-shirt, knee-length pants, and a pair of running shoes. As soon as she arrived at school she plastered herself to the student listing board. This board contained the name of all the first year students in the academy and which class they would be in. After fruitlessly searching for minute or so she looked around to see if anyone else could find her name and saw much to her surprise, Yukiko Kukichi, the esteemed heir of the Kukichi-ke and rival. Sucking up her pride, she turned and asked, "Um…excuse me Kukichi-san, do you see my name on any of the lists because I can't seem to find it myself."<p>

"If such simple skills as reading are beneath you maybe you should reconsider coming here." Was Kukichi's response, dismissing her immediately.

"Geez you don't have to be so mean about it."

"I'm not being mean. I'm stating the obvious."

"You're a stuck up prick, you worthless ice block!"

"You dare insult my pride, you crazy tomboy!"

"Shut up! You couldn't be less noble if you tried!"

"Watch your mouth when you're addressing the heir to the Kukichi family, apple head!"

"Ice cube!"

"Apple head!"

"Ice cube!"

"Apple head!"

A cool voice cut through the heated argument, "You two mind explain what's going on?" Kaien stood over both of them with an exasperated expression.

Rin's motor mouth activated, "While I just asked Ms. Ice queen over here if she could help me find my name on the class listing charts since I could and she started making fun of me."

"I did no such thing. I just told her that she should reconsider entering the academy if she can't read." Was Yukiko's response.

Kaien just shook his head at both of them and read over the board, scanning for their names. A few seconds later Kaien just shook his head, "Um Yukiko I think Rin-chan has a point. None of our names are up here."

"Kaien-san, how many times do I have to tell me to address me properl-"She stopped, "…? Wait…our names aren't up there! You're kidding right. I studied an unbelievable amount of time, aced my exams, got the letter of acceptance and my name doesn't show up here! This academy has slighted Kukichi-ke for the last time!"

Rin almost burst out laughing at Yukiko until she tried to demolish the student listing board sending Kaien flying. Out of nowhere Jin and a red-sandy haired young man restrained Yukiko. Jin whispered something to Yukiko who immediately pulled herself together. Rin looked over at Kaien who was being dragged by Yukiko and immediately decided followed Jin in his roundabout tour through the school. They arrived at a rather large looking conference room.

Jin smirked, "Welcome to your classroom."

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><p>Jin Ukitake was a strange child. His eyes were opened in slits and he always had a knowing grin on his face. Many, much to his great pleasure, compared his facial expression to Gin Ichimaru, his idol. Jin's hair was silver blond and although he displayed the gentleman expressions of his father and the quick wit and motor mouth of his mother, Kiyone, neither of his parents knew where his manipulative side came from. He wore a white reaper's uniform but padded shoes that made no noise whatsoever when he walked. Gin's morning was a good one. He arrived thirty minutes early and had wandering around campus listening in on conversations, picking up the latest gossip, and writing it his ever present notebook he carried with him. Suddenly a person of interest crossed his path. Kukichi-ke's esteemed heir had arrived and Jin in a not too obvious fashion made his way toward her. Due to her position as Kukichi-ke heir she had a knack for picking up juicy nobility rumors a good week or so before anyone else had an inkling of what was going on. Although Jin never understood why Yukiko always handed over information with little protest, she always had a good ear for information. Jin stopped her up before she entered the main hall where the listing boards were located and asked, "So Yuki-hime any interesting news?"<p>

Kukichi-san despite herself answered, "Must you always ask me that question Ukitake-san?"

"Yep."

She folded her arms for a few seconds then answered, "Well word is that we have a new transfer student."

Jin immediately focused all of his attention on her. The term, transfer student, was only used when someone had recently died and was immediately enrolled into the academy. Usually people were discovered when soul reapers patrolled the rukongai or students enrolled from the rukongai. Most transfer students reiatsu affected many people around them and had to be removed for the rukongai or risk killing people with their reiatsu. A primary example would be Toshiro Hitsugaya.

"Who?"

"I'm not really sure but he's apparently pretty powerful. Right now he's located in the office with Genryusai-sensei."

Jin's trademark smirk widened, "Thanks. I'll be seeing you then."

With that Jin rushed off towards the office. A few minutes later Jin stood nearby Genryusai's office for any information that could be gleaned. Genryusai's voice came out in any even tone, "Because of that you and seven others will be in a special class. Now then I need to find you a guide for this place. I built this academy but I still get lost occasionally." He heard some chuckling from the office. "Well now I could ask…" Jin felt a reiatsu spike from the office. "Ahh Jin Ukitake… stop eavesdropping and get in here before I light you up like a torch."

Jin walked in with an expression like that of a little kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Genryusai smiled and said, "You'd be the perfect guide now help him find six other students. Now after finding the other students on this list go to conference room 2. Here's the list."

Jin looked over it. It read, "Ayame Hitsugaya, Rin Kira, Setsuna Hisagi, Kaien Kurosaki, Yukiko Kukichi, Hikari Kyoraku, Jin Ukitake, and Sousuke Agami."

"Kyoraku-san is in the library, Hisagi-san is in the zanjutsu training room, Hitsugaya-san is in the music room, and Kukichi-san is by the student listing board." Genryusai said, "I'll meet up in conference room two. Oh and Ukitake-san remember I wasn't Sou-taichou for 2,000 years for nothing." With that he was on the way out of the room.

Jin turned to the sandy-red haired boy standing nearby him and started up some conversation as he ushered Sousuke out of the office and towards the music room. "So you're Sousuke Agami right."

"Yes but you can call me Sousuke. It's a pleasure to meet you Ukitake-san."

Jin let his autopilot take over while concentrated on Sousuke. Jin couldn't find anything unusual about the boy. He had sandy-hair hair and glasses that had a black frame. He wore jeans and had a black t-shirt with a pair of headphones around his neck. He had a smile on his face and Jin could tell Sousuke was happy to be here. By the time Jin along with everyone else he was supposed to find stopped his autopilot he was outside the conference room he had been directed to.

Jin let out a knowing smirk, "Welcome to your classroom."

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><p>Sousuke Agami had perhaps the most interesting morning of all. He had only arrived in the Rukongai before he had been picked up by a patrol of Reapers then pulled into an office a few days ago. Many thoughts rang throughout his head as he reviewed what he had been told.<p>

_The old man, Genryusai, had explained, "There are two worlds, our world or Soul Society, and Earth or the real world. When you die your soul is separated from your body and is sent to Soul Society. It exists as spirit particles or reishi until your soul passes away here. Then it is reborn on earth. However if your soul has regrets and extremely strong ties to earth then instead of going to soul society they turn into Hollows. Hollows indiscriminately attack humans and souls and may end up going to the world of the hollows, Hueco Mundo. Reapers can purify them by killing them or cutting their mask."_

_Sousuke had interrupted. "What about those who have committed great evil on earth?"_

_Genryusai continued, "Killing a hollow means that you purify the sins the hollow has committed in hollow form. However it does not purify their sins as human. Hell's gate will open and consume those who are evil. We as Reapers have to jobs: One send souls to Soul Society and Two purify hollows to save humans who are living their lives on earth. So Sousuke are you interested in joining the ranks of the Gotei 13?"_

_Sousuke just nodded. _

Sousuke snapped back to reality to see Genryusai staring at him again.

"Sousuke, Do you remember what I told about the two jobs of a Reaper?"

"Yes…"

"Well we're adding a new job to the list. Because of that you and seven others will be in a special class. Now then I need to find you a guide for this place. I built this academy but I still get lost occasionally. Well now I could ask… Ahh Jin Ukitake… Stop eavesdropping and get in here before I light you up like a torch."

Jin slunk into the office.

"You'd be the perfect guide now help him find six other students. Now after finding the other students on this list go to conference room 2. Here's the list."

Jin read over the list quickly. He looked at Genryusai with questioning look on his face.

"Kyoraku-san is in the library, Hisagi-san is in the zanjutsu training room, Hitsugaya-san is in the music room, and Kukichi-san is by the student listing board." Genryusai said categorically, "I'll meet up in conference room two. Oh and Ukitake-san remember I wasn't Sou-taichou for 2,000 years for nothing." Genryusai left the room.

Jin smiled at him and directed him out of the room.

"So you're Sousuke Agami right."

"Yes but you can call me Sousuke. It's a pleasure to meet you Ukitake-san."

Jin motioned for Sousuke to follow him.

"Ok so first were heading to the music room. Hitsugaya-san is actually a music artist with a bit of a following with the younger decade of us reapers. Word on the street is that she's looking for band members. She's really popular but she doesn't let it get to her head. She's also the reason why the modern clothes and whatnot have been imported and why the uniform was abolished. Good kid…" Jin trailed off.

"Wait so on top of being a pop idol she also is a clever businesswoman and political debater." Sousuke mused.

"Yep, she's even responsible for the semi-westernization of this realm."

"Semi-westernization?"

"Fer thousands o' years this place ran like something out an old Japanese samurai movie. Although twenty years ago nobody knew what a movie was with a few exceptions. Try imaging no cheeseburgers for over four thousand years."

_Effective image_ thought Sousuke as he shivered.

"Although the changes are subtle it's there. The main layout of the Seireitei or our official reaper uniforms may never change we will have some amenities."

As they approached the music room Sousuke could hear an electric guitar slowly fading out. Sousuke and Jin opened up the door. He could see what made Ayame so popular. She had a dazzling smile on her face and a certain joy was radiating out of her. Her long hair was the tint of icy blue that mixed with a platinum blonde. She wore a simple stripped blue shirt with a jacket the same color as the blue in her hair along with gray cargo pants and a pair of flats.

"Oi, Ayame-chan!" Jin called out, obviously clapping in a sarcastic manner.

"Hm… Oh Jin-kun good to see you. Who's the new guy?"

"I'm Sousuke Agami. You can call me Sousuke."

"I'm Ayame Hitsugaya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She shook his hand and Sousuke found himself trying to hide a blush.

Ayame smiled cluelessly and turned to Jin, "So what's up?"

"Well I was told to find all the students on this list." He waved the list limply, "And now we have three…Five more to go!"

Sousuke interrupted as the exited the music room, "So who's next?"

"We're going to find Hikaru Kyoraku." Jin replied, "Kyoraku-san is still in the library, Sousuke."

"So…what's she like?" Sousuke continued

"Well…for lack of better words she's a biblioprincess."

"What?"

Ayame interrupted, "Jin-kun, don't be confusing. She just spends a lot of time reading and she expects to be treated like a princess. She comes off as rude sometimes but she's a good person. She's really smart. Oh… she also has a major sweets addiction."

As they reached the library, Jin stopped them in front of the door.

"Follow my lead. For now I'll do all the talking. She's has some interestin' mannerisms."

With that he quickly led them to the back of the library. In the back, Sousuke saw an amazing sight. Giant piles of books made macabre towers and sitting the center was a girl in a black Victorian dress. The dress had a white lace frills that matched a pair of white laced gloves. Her black hair fell in long, curly locks and her eyes shone a feral green. Seven books were laid out in front of her and she flipped through all of them at an astounding rate. Jin walked over to her.

"Hello Kyoraku-san. I'm here to pick you up for class."

"Will it be interesting?"

"I can't guarantee that."

"Then leave."

Jin reached into his sleeves and pulled out melon bread. Hikari's eyes lit up like the light she was named after. She immediately popped up and almost drooled on the floor. Jin put the bread back in his sleeve and turned to Sousuke and Ayame.

"Kyoraku-san this is Sousuke Agami."

Sousuke extended his hand forward and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Hikari completely ignored his hand and sniffed him a couple times. Her face lit up like fireworks at new years and she shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure, Agami-kun. You smell interesting."

Sousuke looked confused so Jin explained, "Well she only says that about people she considers worthy of her time or friends. Congratulations! Welcome to club."

Sousuke looked more even more confused than before so Ayame cut in, "Hikari-chan ignores people who aren't interesting. You fall in the interesting category therefore she's nice to you. We have a few other friends who fall into that category so you're the seventh addition."

_Great…_Sousuke thought quietly to himself as they walked out of the library. Sousuke was about to ask about the next person on the list when Jin spoke up, "Next person is Setsuna Hisagi. Setsu-kun is extremely powerful, a trait passed down by his parents, Nanao Ise and Shuhei Hisagi. Word is he's on the cusp of activating shikai which hasn't happen since Hitsugaya-soutaicho went through the academy. Still though he's a nice person."

_Soutaicho, shikai, what…._thought Sousuke but decided to ask later. They continued walking as the silence lay on them like a thick blanket. Sousuke in order to break the awkwardness spoke up, "So tell me about yourself, Jin."

He just grinned evilly.

Ayame, seeing this, smiled at Jin and said in a surprisingly good impression of Jin's sarcastic and playful candor, "Jin Ukitake is an information gathering fox. He admires Gin Ichimaru, a Soul Society legend and information gatherer, and even has the same hair color and trademark grin. He's also quite popular with his peers and always has a cool head around him. Word on the street is that he has many things hidden in his clothes including but not limited to a wakizashi, sweets, and his ever present journal."

She sent Jin a dazzling grin but Jin was totally spaced out. Hikari was on the brink of laughing but maintained her composure. By the time Ayame's speech had finished they reached the training ground. It was a giant outdoor pavilion. Awnings surrounded the pavilion in traditional Japanese style and on one side weapons were lined up on a rack. In the middle of the field was a young man holding an extremely long katana. He was swinging his sword in a series of arcs that looked like nothing more than a series of shining flashes. His hair was dark and long, tied up on a ponytail. He wore a black and white student's hamaka with the sleeves rolled up revealing well toned muscle. His facial features reminded some of a younger Byakuya Kukichi except for the fact that his eyes were covered with a thick black blindfold. After one final stroke he sheathed the sword in a long sheath that covered the length of his back.

"Oi… Setsuna. We've got class."

"Hn."

"It's in conference room 2 instead of the normal place. So you can come with us."

"Ok…who's the new guy? Oh, I'm Setsuna Hisagi."

"I'm Sousuke Agami. It's a pleasure to meet you Setsuna-kun. Just call me Sousuke."

As they were about to shake hands everyone heard a loud commotion coming from nearby that faintly sounded like a girl's irate scream. Jin sighed, "That's Yuki-hime. No doubt about it. We should probably run or Yuki-hime will probably destroy something."

They all sprinted and Sousuke pleasantly noted to himself that he was easily keeping up with Setsuna and Jin. Ayame and Hikari were somewhat slower but they kept pace and they all reached the ranking board. Jin quickly followed by Sousuke both grabbed and restrained Yukiko before she could do any damage.

"Oi, oi Yuki-hime, take it easy. We're supposed to meet in conference room two. We have class there." He said trying to placate the irate princess.

"Hmph…fine."

With that taken care of Jin walked off towards the conference room all the seven in tow. The group broke into twos or threes and Jin grabbed Sousuke so he could continue with introductions, "That's Yukiko Kukichi." He loosely pointed a finger in her general direction, "She's the heir to the Kukichi title. A noble who acts ice cold but can get very fiery and mad when her pride is affronted. Next one is Rin Kira. She's a firebrand with a short fuse. It doesn't help that her physical stature makes people think she's a twelve year old when she's actually 43."

_What the heck… Age is going to make things more awkward around here but I guess I'm already dead and it can't get any more awkward than that._ Sousuke thought with a confused facial expression so pitiful that Jin actually noticed it.

"Hung up on the age Sousuke?" Jin asked with no intention of getting an answer, "Well everyone here ages slowly just like you will now. Man you picked a good time to die. Right in your teenage prime. You'll age like us now. Very slowly. Genryusai-sensei is over two thousand years old just for your info. Also if you fancy any of the ladies, age really isn't a factor. One example would be Ichigo and Rukia Kukichi-Shiba. When they got married Ichigo was twenty years and Rukia was about 201. A more extreme example would be Unohana and Komamura Taicho who have a distance in age of about 600 years. People like you especially don't have to worry. Here years pass like days when you get use to them."

Sousuke's confused expression made Jin's smirk a little bit wider but to his credit he continued the explanation without laughing, "The last one with the confused look on his face is Kaien Kurosaki-Shiba. He's the current heir to Shiba-ke but carries himself with a completely different air then Yuki-hime. He's much more relaxed then her and just goes with the flow. He can get totally overprotective though."

And is if on cue he stopped right in front of a large set of doors that above read conference room two.

"Welcome to your classroom." Jin said with that ever-widening smirk of his.

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><p>AN: And wrap. Well I hope you enjoyed it. Read and review, please and thank you. If you enjoyed it thanks, if you didn't while that's your problem. If you're annoyed by the POV change for the same even four times I'm never doing that again. It was ridiculously hard to keep it interesting two times even so this is never happening again. I will be doing point of view changes though…often. It keeps the story interesting.

Next Week: We meet the teachers, learn a shocking history lesson, find out what's so special about the eight, and Sousuke proves he's good for something.


	2. What's Your Type?

A/N:Shiro's back! Chapter 2…Yay! Well here it is in all of its glory. Enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach…

Chapter 2: What's Your Type

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><p><em>Being crushed by reiatsu is one of the scariest things that can ever happen to you. You are forced to your knees and you can't move. A variety of emotions like fear and despair will run through you as you find yourself at the complete disposal of your enemies. But the worst part of the whole experience is that regardless of what you do, you know that all your effort, work, and talent is meaningless and that regardless of how many defenses or walls you try to throw up your enemy can crush you like a fly.<em>

Yukiko Kukichi

Explaining why you should run from enemies if you're clearly outclassed to a particularly brave squad member some years from now.

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><p>Jin opened the door for the other seven and they all filed in and took seats around the table. Yukiko huffed as she sat down and tried to observe the room while the others conversed and chatted. It was a large with a big conference table in the middle. Chairs encircled the table in a neat orderly fashion and the walls were lined with various binders and books, all of which looked important but unused and dusty. The room was well lit and on both sides of the room were large double doors. The plainness of the whole room was mystery but the real mystery in Yukiko's mind was who that sandy red head was. His name was Sousuke Agami but she didn't know anything else besides that. Yukiko knew everyone else based simple on reputation and family lineage but that boy was a nobody. No stock, no bloodline, he looked just your run of the mill teenager.<p>

Her thoughts were interrupted by a door opening. All conversation ceased as Genryusai Yamamoto walked through the doors. Before anyone could say anything though Genryusai started to speak, "Students! Welcome to your new class. For the next few years we will be responsible for you." He pointed to all four of the adults, "This is the Zero class. This class will contain only the highest caliber of shinigami and by the end of this course you will be the strongest graduates Soul Society has ever seen. Now more than ever we need strong shinigami. We have grown complacent. After the disaster with Aizen I believe that we need to raise up strong leaders with strength, cunning, and wisdom to counteract any threats, internal or external. Each of you has been chosen because you're powerful, knowledge, and/or persuasive than the rest of the students. On the flipside of things this course will push you harder than any other class out there so if you want to quit now we understand." After waiting in silence for a few seconds he continued, "No one… good. Now students, introduce yourselves for Sousuke's sake and will continue. Also use your parent's maiden names etc so I can use them later. Kaien you can start."

"Here" Said Jin, "You can take notes for questions on this." He chucked a notepad and pen at Sousuke who caught it without much trouble. Ignoring all of this Kaien started the introductions.

"I'm Kaien Kurosaki-Shiba. My parents are Ichigo Kurosaki-Shiba and Rukia Kukichi captains of the Fifth and Third respectively who also were both on Soul Society's most wanted list." This got a laugh out of everyone except Sousuke who was scribbling down notes diligently. "Also Yukiko-san over there is my cousin and I'm the heir to the Shiba name which my dad is the current head of. I like taking it easy. I dislike strict people and people who wear eye patches." Yukiko swore she heard coughing from behind the door but no one else said anything so she dismissed it.

Rin picked up without missing a beat, "I'm Rin Kira. My parents are Izuru Kira and Rangiku Matsumoto, vice-captains of the Third and the Tenth. I like…fun stuff and I dislike apples and stuck-up people." She glared at Yukiko who ignored her.

A joking voice cut through the tension, "Guess I'm next. I'm Jin Ukitake. Parents are Juushiro Ukitake and Kiyone Kotetsu, captain and vice captain of the 13th. I like persimmons and gathering information on people while I dislike liars and not knowing things." He proceeded to give a grin that scared almost everyone in the room except Sousuke who was still writing and Genryusai who countered with the head captain doom stare.

Yukiko who hadn't realized that Jin had ended sat waiting until Jin whispered to her, "You do realize it's your turn right?"

"Oh! My apologies…" She blushed a beet red but quickly composed herself and spoke in a strong, confident tone, "I'm Yukiko Kukichi. My parents are Byakuya Kukichi and Kukaku Shiba captains of the Sixth and Ninth. I am the heir to the Kukichi name. I like responsible and mature people and I dislike people who aren't mature or responsible."

The blindfolded Setsuna picked up at the end of Yukiko's introduction in his low, even voice, "I'm Setsuna Hisagi. My parents, Shuhei Hisagi and Nanao Ise, are the captain of the 11th and the major general of the kido corps respectively. I'm wearing a blindfold to sharpen my other senses." This gained him some incredulous looks but Setsuna continued as if he didn't notice probably because he couldn't see, "I like getting stronger and I dislike nothing."

Putting down the small book that she was reading, Hikari spoke in airy tone that at its best arrogant and at its worst condescending, "I'm Hikari Kyoraku. My parents are Shunsui Kyoraku and Lisa Yadomaru, captain and vice-captain of the seventh. I love anything interesting, books included…oh and sweets and I hate anything boring."

The second of the last to go Ayame stopped tuning her ever present guitar and started, "I'm Ayame Hitsugaya." She gave another smile like was at a concert or publicity stunt, "Toshiro Hitsugaya and Momo Hinamori are my mom and dad and they are the head captain and vice-captain of the kido corps. I like singing and being around others. I'm the same as Setsuna for dislikes."

Sousuke looked up from his paper scratching his head, "I'm Sousuke Agami and I have a lot of questions."

Everyone laughed at this and then looked to Genryusai for more instructions, "Hmm…Alright now that you have introduced yourselves I will introduce you to your teachers. Each of these three teachers are teachers I have hand-picked myself and they will teach and push you to the highest level. So without further ado, please come in."

The doors opened and revealed the three teachers as they walked in. The first strode proudly. His hair was neatly split into two halves, an orange collar adorned his neck, and two feathers were carefully positioned over one of his eyes. Yumichika Ayasegawa had entered. He was followed someone who was fairly shorter but every bit as proud. The opened back uniform of the Oumitsukido and the ringed hoops in her braided were the trademarks of former captain Soi Ayasegawa Fon. The last to enter was a young lady about the same height as Soi Fon. Her hair that was up in a bun along with the blue interspersed throughout her uniform showing that she was a member of the kido corps were two obvious indicators that she was vice-captain Momo Hitsugaya. The three stood before the group of students stunning them as they recognized each of them. Ayame's expression was especially interesting she did everything in her power not to freak out that her mom was one of the teachers but failed miserably. Well except for Sousuke who just scratched his head and shrugged. Genryusai, after quickly moving through their names moved on to his next point, "Us four will be responsible for your education until you graduate. I will be teaching strategy and politics."

"I will be teaching the beautiful art of the sword." Said Yumichika airily.

"Hakuda and Shunpo." Stated Soi Fon tersely.

"I am in charge of teaching you kido." Momo said with a warm glow.

Genryusai finished the conversation with some instructions, "Now everyone please follow Hitsugaya-fukutaicho to the kido testing grounds and await further instructions."

With one final clearing of his throat he marched out of the room with Yumichika and Soi Fon following close behind. Momo turned and looked at the rest of them with a smile, "If you'll all follow me."

She proceeded to walk out of the other door, the eight students walking close behind.

* * *

><p>Hikari had found the whole state of affairs interesting. <em>Looks like Jin wasn't lying<em> she thought to herself. _First the transfer student, then class zero, and now a mysterious class with Hinamori-fukutaicho. Hmmm… what to do, what to do_. As she continued musing, they arrived at the kido practice area. The kido practice was made up in two parts. The front part was made up of a wooden training dojo. The back side was a giant stretch of land that spanned for a couple miles. The group stopped as Momo opened the doors and let the group walk in. The inside of the dojo was rather modest looking. It was pretty much empty with the exception of the targets that lined the back, some black orbs, sekki-sekki restraints, and the poor patch jobs of kido gone wrong that lined the whole area. When they were all assembled Momo walked to the back, picked up an orb, and faced the group.

"Can anyone tell me what I have here?" questioned Momo.

Jin smirked, "It's a reiatsu amplification orb."

"Correct." Said Momo with a smile, "So can anyone tell me what its function is?"

Hikari answered with a certain smugness in her voice, "It allows a person to manifest their reiatsu around them like a protective barrier. It can also function as a way to measure how much reiatsu someone has."

"Again, correct. While all this is true this particular one has a few additional features. This one also can analyze what type of reiatsu a person has and it can even analyze what type of person you are based on your reiatsu flow. This also allows you to emit reiatsu like a normal shinigami when they are in fight. You guys know how to manipulate reiatsu right?" Momo continued without any chance for interruption, "Well for the sake of those who don't, here's how. Just imagine a black dot in your mind and jump through it. Now any volunteers to go first?"

Ayame raised her hand and bounded forward over to Momo. After taking the orb from Momo she pumped reiatsu into the orb. The orb started to send out pulses so that the air around her looked like a mirage. Waves of sound emanated off of her slowly and there was a low hum in the air. Hikari spoke up, "Kido-type reiatsu, it's about as powerful as a 7th or 8th seat and the blurriness of the reiatsu shows that she has different faces for different occasions. Zanpakuto is most likely to be sound type."

"Hikari why don't you continue to analyze people." Momo said, stunned to see that Hikari had perfectly analyzed Ayame's reiatsu, "I'll analyze yours."

After Ayame finished Hikari quickly grabbed the orb and pumped her reiatsu into it. Almost immediately a purple hue rose in the form of hundreds of small tentacles that zoomed around the room, running up walls, targets, and people indiscriminately.

Momo analyzed it, "Hmm…kido type reiatsu… 8th seat power and the purple is the belief in one's own royalty or position. Zanpakuto type is most likely either a summoner type or a kido type."

Rin went next sending out a yellow colored reiatsu that enveloped her like a cloak. The force of it pressed on everyone a little but nothing too notable.

Hikari continued her analyzing, "Combat type reiatsu. It's around 4th seat power and the zanpakuto type is most likely a melee type. The yellow means energetic."

Rin gave the orb to Yukiko with a smug look in her eyes. As in response to her challenge Yukiko pumped reiatsu into it. A light blue and red reiatsu streamed out on the ground in front of her as she was completely covered in a purple coat of reiatsu.

"Combat…no…kido…no! No! No!… both! The purple shows your belief in royalty while the splitting red and blue show your interior verses your exterior, blue being your icy exterior and red being your fiery temper. Your zanpakuto type is most likely a ranged combat seeing as how you have both types and your power clocks in at third seat."

Yukiko, ignoring the jealous Rin passed it off to Jin and the process started anew. Jin's reiatsu came off like inky tentacles that turned white whenever it touched anything new.

"Interesting…A kido type reiatsu with fifth seat power. Your zanpakuto holds a dual nature of light and darkness although I can't tell what type it will be. Your nature is that of one who discovers in the dark then reveals into the light."

Setsuna with a serious expression on his face picked the orb up from Jin. Setsuna's reiatsu turned into tiny orbs surrounding him in swirling patterns that spun continued to spin faster and faster. The people around found movement much more difficult and none of them could lift their arms above their heads except Sousuke.

Hikari's voice sounded a little strained but she continued, "Kido and combat type reiatsu with a vice-captain's power. The orbs make it a summoner type zanpakuto and the fact that the orbs keep increasing in speed means that you have a desire to move forward or make progress."

Kaien took the orb and put his reiatsu in. His reiatsu cloaked him in a fiery red but unlike all of the others moved slowly and languidly as if without purpose

"Combat type with a fourth seat's power. The slowness means that you're the go with the flow kind of person and the redness in this case is actually a type indicator instead of a personality indicator. You have a fire type zanpakuto."

Momo who had been silent through the exchange spoke up as Kaien shut down his reiatsu, "Agami-kun would you like to give it a go?"

Sousuke just walked over, grabbed the orb, and started to pump out his reiatsu as if he had been doing this for centuries. The effect was immediate. His reiatsu although completely invisible fell on everyone like a ton of bricks. The only two who weren't effect were Setsuna and Momo. For everyone else after three seconds they were kneeling and after five they were forced prostate onto the ground. Sousuke realizing this immediately stopped and looked at his class for some kind of approval. After they picked themselves up and finished stared at him jaws agape with for the third time that day shock and awe spread all over it.

Hikari cleared her throat to get everyone's attention then spoke, "I can only identify one thing about his reiatsu type. It has captain class power. I can't tell anything about his personality, zanpakuto type or even if he's combat or kido based. This is definitely an interesting turn of events."

Momo spoke up, "So if any of you have questions as to why Agami-kun is in the class they are answered, I'm sure. Well the last thing I want to see is who powerful your kido skills are. So lets go to the outdoors training field/"

Sousuke still confused by everything stood scratching his head until Hikari grabbed him and explained while they all walked outside.

"Listen closely Agami-kun because I'll only repeat this once. Reiatsu is separated into two types, combat and kido. Combat is more physical while kido is more magical. Under each of these is subsets and then specialty sets all of which determine your zanpakuto type. Of course there are some that lie outside either but I'll explain that later."

"Wait… what's a zanpakuto?" Questioned Sousuke quietly.

"Arghh! You don't know that either! ... Hmph… A zanpakuto is a manifestation of one's soul to use as a weapon. You are your zanpakuto and your zanpakuto is you. Also it has two stages of release. Shikai which is your first release and Bankai which is your second release. Each release adds to your zanpakuto's power, allows for the use of more abilities, changes shape and even clothing, and even allows for you to crush people into the ground like you did with that reiatsu orb on command. Anyways if you want more information ask later. Zanpakuto type determines how you can attack an enemy or make yourself stronger. I'll explain everyone's so you have a relative understanding. Ayame's had a sound type. This means manipulation of sound waves, amplitude, etc. Mine was pretty relative but summoner/kido type means that I'll probably be able to summon powerful kido or something like that. Rin's is a melee type which means just a powerful sword or gauntlet. Yukiko's being of the ranged category is probably a bow and arrow or gun. Jin's was interesting since it had a light and darkness dual nature. All I could glean was that it used light and darkness as a weapon but nothing else. Setsuna's was a pure summoner type and that is very interesting considering his weapons proficiency. A summoner type basically allows you to pull stuff from nowhere and use it so we'll have to see how it pans out there. Kaien's is a fire type so pretty self explanatory. You can control fire. That's all. I couldn't identify yours at all. You have no type but you're extremely powerful."

They reached the field and again assembled in a straight line in front of Momo who again addressed them, "Ok now I want to test kido skills. I want you all to try and firing Hado #4 Byakurai (pale lighting) down that field with as much force as you can put into it. Don't worry about damage because one student actually your dad, Kaien blew up about two miles worth of land with a particularly powerful Byakurai. Don't worry if you fail but try your best. Ok here's how you cast it. Imagine a shot of white lightening coming from your fingertips and shooting forward. Then shout Hado #4 Byakurai. Something should come out." Momo quickly moved behind them, "Ok on my mark one, two, three!"

Eight simultaneous shouts of "Hado #4 Byakurai" rang out as blasts of pale lightening shot down the field in a crackle of electrical energy. The results of the blasts varied. Rin's shot went the shorts maxing out at a measly 25 yards followed by Jin's that went about 50 yards. Kaien's and Yukiko's blasts went about 100 yards; Yukiko's frying a tree growing in her path. Ayame surpassed them both barely by a couple more yards and to no one surprise Setsuna's and Hikari's went a full mile before fizzling out. But the most shocking of all was Sousuke's blast. Jis Byakurai had the density of its cousin Hado #63 Raikohou (lightening cannon) and went a full mile and a half before stopping. Sousuke, ignorant of his classmates' shock, fell would have fallen over due to fatigue had Setsuna not caught him. Momo, trying not to look surprised, gave a quick word, "Alright I think that will be all from me today. Your next class will be split boys and girls with Soi Fon and Ayasegawa-san doing more assessments."

But Sousuke, exhausted from fatigue, didn't notice hear her as he passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

><p>AN: And cut. Well here's chapter two. Didn't you enjoy it, hate it, want me to write and release more of it. Then please review and tell me. Even if you thought it was boring or just think it needs improvement let me know although I don't know when I'll edit it. I appreciate all the time you put into reading this and I'll work to keep posting chapters for you. I now think that there will be more action for this point on as I get working in the series. So if you're dissatisfied with the lack of violence wait until next chapter. These first two chapters were just for me to flesh the characters out some although I'll continue to do so over the course of the series.

Next Chapter: Soi Fon and Yumichika get their hands on the students and see what they're made of.


	3. Boys and Girls

A/N: It's chapter 3… Shiro's back. Enjoy. This chapter signals the first fights and the beginning of the fight scenes. Also I believe that I will be ending the intro arc and moving into the next one so watch out. Thank you for the 55 some odd views. I appreciate it. No really I do. So, let the chapter commence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach…leave me alone 'sob'

Chapter 3: Boys and Girls

_Gender doesn't matter in a place where you could be killed at any second when working. So long as they have my back, boy or girl, I don't care. Gender prejudice can roll up in a hole and die for all I care. _

Hikari Kyoraku

Chewing out a certain chauvinist squad member

_If we really decided to stop enrolling females we'd cut our force in half. Plus this place has as many females in power as males. Matsumoto-fukutaicho, Hinamori-fukutaicho, Kurotsuchi-fukutaicho, Kusajishi-fukutaicho, Kiyone-fukutaicho, Yadomaru-fukutaicho, Isane-fukutaicho, Unohana-taicho, Rukia-taicho, and I'm pretty sure I didn't even list them all. They're all ridiculously powerful and scary when they're mad… The scariest of all though is my mom. She's really scary when she gets mad. Actually I think she's the one thing I'm scared of. _

Setsuna Hisagi

Talking to a close friend over a cup of tea

Sousuke shook himself awake to see his concerned classmates standing over him, well at least his male ones. Confused as to what had happened after he gracefully destroyed a mile and half of foliage he sat asking, "What's happening? Where is everyone?"

He stopped himself after realizing that he was inside in a dojo. The whole inside was lined with either training dummies or weapons racks. Sunlight flickered through the windows as dust motes drifted like a gentle snow fall. A banner hung in the back that had the kanji for strength. In small characters underneath it was scrawled sanity helps. At a sudden loss for words he just stared blankly until Jin answered.

"Well you blew up about a mile and a half of the training area with your Byakurai. You passed out from reiatsu exhaustion. Smile, Sousuke you did better than everyone and that includes the overpowered Setsu-kun over here." He threw a thumb in the Setsuna's general direction.

"So what are we doing now?" Sousuke queried.

Kaien answered, "Waiting for Ayasegawa-sensei to show up." Sousuke vaguely remembered a funny looking man with peacock feathers attached to his face. "He said he was going to the bathroom but he's been gone for thirty minutes. Well I don't care. The less work the bett-"

He was cut off as the door slid up revealing Yumichika, a playful expression on his face. He walked over to the front and the class scrambled to attention. He addressed them in a flowery, airy voice, "Glad to see you're up Sousuke. Now we can start. Ok boys. Here's the plan. I'm going to evaluate your weapons skills. See those dummies. Well I'm going to have you cut one of those dummies into beautiful, little pieces. Pick your best weapon and try to impress me. Jin, Kaien help me set up some dummies. Setsuna explain what an asauchi is to Sousuke."

As the others moved away Setsuna turned to face him and started explaining, "Asauchi. It's a name for a zanpakuto that hasn't revealed its name to its master. As you use it more the blade changes based on your fighting style and personal preferences. For example your hilt threading might change color or you could gain a tassel or chain on the end of it. Originally all these asauchi were regular length katana but the R&D labs over in 12th squad created them in different shapes and types so that people could fight with whatever they were comfortable with using. Today will probably be the day that you pick up your asauchi. In fact some of us already have. I have my nodachi, Ayame has her guitar, and Jin, well, you'll see."

Yumichika called them over since the set up finished.

"Okay Kaien you're up first."

Kaien walked over to the weapons rack and grabbed a spear. He hefted it a couple times, took a few swings and shrugged, "It'll have to do."

Yumichika look at him surprised, "I thought you would have grabbed something along the lines of your dad's giant meat cleaver or at least a katana like your mom"

Kaien just shrugged and walked over to the dummy. The dummy itself was unimpressive. It was a large bundle of straw that widen in the middle then shrunk towards the bottom. Kaien took up a stance, one leg back, one leg forward, spear held at his side. Kaien moved like a flash. He stabbed the dummy where the heart would have been, yanked the spear out spinning and completed the spin by bisecting the dummy from his shoulder to his hip. The spearhead hit the ground and with his momentum Kaien pushed himself off the ground and in another acrobatic spin threw the straight through the dummy's head and carried the top half of the dummy along with the spear straight into the wall. Yumichika clapped in admiration and said, "Kaien, beautiful. Sousuke, you're up next."

Sousuke looked around the weapon's racks and then picked up the plainest katana. The thing was complete normal with a normal blade length, a normal wooden sheath, and no tassels or adornments. He swung it around a couple times and seeming satisfied with his sword walked over to the dummy. Drawing the sword, he slashed a left diagonal upwards followed by a right diagonal downwards, a back-handed diagonal left upwards then, his blade in forehand grip, decapitated the doll, and as if to add insult to injury he slashed the dummy on the way down as he sheathed it. The cuts engraved a star pattern on the dummy's chest cutting it quickly but not destroying it. If Yumichika was surprised he didn't say anything. Finding the silence to be annoying Jin broke, "Oi Setsu-kun... Go go. Don't leave the audience waiting."

"Hn." Was Setsuna's only response. He walked forward and stood directly across from it a good distance away. Setsuna gripped his sword handle and rolled his fingers over it a few times. Turning around, the dummy split in half as the noise of a sword slashing through a dummy was heard followed. Kaien stared with his usual bored expression, Yumichika looked very impressed, and Sousuke had confusion plastered all over his face while Jin explained what had happened.

"Sousuke, a quick question before I explain?"

"Hm?"

"What travels faster? Light or sound?"

"Light."

"Pin pon. That's correct. Now what Setsuna used was something called shunpo. Shunpo is a flash step. Using his reiatsu, he pumped it through his feet and pushed off in a high speed burst. Got it?"

"I think so."

"Good. So here's what he did. To us he turned around in under one second. In actuality, he used shunpo, cut the doll in half, sheathed his weapon, shunpoed back and turned towards us. All in under in second. His image travel faster than sound. Scary, hm?"

"Interesting…"

"Well anyways it's my turn." Jin grinned.

After positioning himself a fair distance from the dummy and getting a nod of approval from Yumichika to start, he lifted his arms up as if directing a symphony then swung them down with a dramatic flair. Small knives fell from his sleeves into his hands. Each knife was had an edge on one side and stopped halfway down the knife curving into a smooth iron handle. On the end was a small ring that looked it could be used so one could swing it around their fingers or easy switch forehand to backhand. He caught the knives, four in each hand, and started to throw them while running around the dummy in a circle. Each of the knives missed by about an inch and continued flying embedding itself in the walls while amazingly missing any of the weapons or other objects lying around. Jin grinned and delicately plucked the air in front of his arms like a master harp player. The straw dummy exploded. He shook his arms and the knives flew straight back into his sleeves.

The only noise heard afterwards was Sousuke, asking, "Okay I was confused before but what happened now?"

"What did you see him throw Sousuke?" Asked Setsuna.

"Knives…" He looked at Setsuna expectantly.

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

Setsuna shook his head, "Well, finely attached to each knife was a thin, very strong iron wire. Apparently he spent five years worth of birthday money and gambling on the wire alone. The knife missed but the wire moved snugly right next to the dummy. When he plucked the air he actually sent vibrations down the strings that were increased exponentially due to the harmony of the wire, etc. The sound wave when it touches something sends a powerful wave through the object effectively blowing it up."

"Dude, you're blindfolded, how can you see this?"

"We have ears for a reason."

"Oh."

_At the same time with Soi Fon and the girls_

The girls had arrived at the shunpo fields in relatively quick order and sat around. Soi Fon wasn't present to teach so they waited making small talk about everything that had happened. Hikari, not at all interested in the conversation when nothing could be confirmed, just gazed around taking the area in. The shunpo training field was a massive woody area with a large field, bamboo forest, and trees galore. Suddenly Soi Fon covered in perspiration and looking very unhappy muttering, "Squirrels. Annoying rodents…"

The group of four stared at her in confusion and surprised at being caught off guard she covered up by barking out orders, "Okay I'll make this quick. First all of you use one shunpo to go as far as you can into the bamboo forest. I'll mark progress. Then will be doing light sparring in there"

This received mixed response as light sparring meant no pads or protection; just that a lucky placed punch or kick could easily put someone into a coma.

"Ready! Set! Go!" Soi Fon yelled in a calm yet seemingly irritated voice.

Each of them disappeared, Hikari with the twirl of her dress, Ayame with a quick jump, and Rin and Yukiko glaring at each other. The result was varied. Hikari made about 25 feet Rin and Yukiko tied at an even 75 while Ayame to everyone's surprise appeared a full 125 feet away. Yukiko, Rin, Hikari, and Soi Fon all stared at her with disbelief.

"Running away from fanboys…and girls." She shuddered.

"Okay good enough." Soi fon spat ending any conversation, "Light sparing. This means no weapons, kido, or shunpo…for now. Move over here." She gestured to an open dirt area surrounded by bamboo, "Rin, Yukiko you're up first. Ayame, Hikari you're following them."

Rin and Yukiko just smiled evilly at each other both looking for a chance for revenge while Ayame shook her head in mock despair and Hikari just ignored the whole ongoing as if it a distasteful dish of food. The two sized each other up while lining themselves up for the ceremonial bow. Rin knew that although she was short in stature she had much more experience in fights making her dangerous but she also knew that Soi Fon, being the former captain of the 2nd and Oumitsukido, didn't mind fighting dirty. Yukiko and Rin readied their fighting stance, bowed, and they were off.

Rin took the initiative and threw a haymaker right at Yukiko's face. Yukiko ducked under the punch ready to throw a quick one two at her chest only to realize that Rin too had ducked down. Rin picked up a handful of dust and threw it in Yukiko's eyes, momentarily blinding her. Rin then with what she believed was a bit of poetic irony thrust two fingers directly in front of Yukiko's heart just like how Yukiko would usually perform a Hado 4 Byakurai.

"Got ya." Rin mocked.

Yukiko's response was as quick as it was violent, "Got you."

Her arm shot out like chain lightening and gripped her wrist. With a quick turn she lifted Rin off the ground and chucked her into the dirt. Soi Fon stopped the match before it could go any further.

"Yukiko won." She stated as if she had seen how the battle would end before it began.

"HEY! No fair I had her. She cheated." Rin complained

Soi Fon just stared at her in a mixture of disbelief and disgust, "In a battle where no kido, shunpo or weapons can be used, it doesn't matter if you could blast them with kido or not. Plus when you have to kill people it isn't nearly as glorious or fun as it's made out to be. You don't get a chance to hold a person standing still five seconds before blowing them up. You strike to kill nothing more, nothing less. This isn't a playground. We're teaching you to kill people."

Feeling that she had chewed Rin out sufficiently She motioned to the other two to step forward saying, "Give me a better show then this group."

She threw a finger at Rin. Ayame placed her guitar down nearby and they both bowed, readied positions, and started. Hikari in a burst of sped rushed forward, her palms outstretched. She threw out a barrage of finger and palm strikes, Ayame blocking each one with relative ease. Refusing to be outdone, Ayame, dodging a finger strike, boosted herself off of Hikari's arm aiming to give Hikari a foot to the head. It never happened. Ayame's muscles and nerves stopped moving and she fell to a ground in a heap. Seeing as how the battle was over, Soi Fon poked Ayame a couple times and she shot back up, confused as to what had happened.

Hikari's smugness was clear in every sentence she said, "I made up a martial arts style based on nerves and muscle endings. I pressed your nerves, disabled them, and won."

Soi Fon looked semi-impressed while the rest seemed rather unhappy that the physically weakest of the three of them outshone them all. Not leaving a moment to waste she snapped at them, "Next go to the sword's hall and send the four boys over here. That husband of mine probably lost track of time with his beauty mongering." They all ran off as fast as they could towards the dojo. They arrived right as Jin sheathed his knives and Yukiko barked at them, "Soi Fon-sensei wants you. Hurry over to the shunpo area."

The boys hopped to it and left the dojo covered in straw. All of them groaned realizing what this meant. Cleaning. They sighed and were about to start when a shout from the door stopped them. A gruff voice barked, "Hado 54 Haien (Abolition Flame)."

All the straw was immediately burnt up in a gout of flame but everything else was left untouched. Genryusai had arrived. All of the people including Yumichika freaked out but he silenced all of them with the patented head captain doom glare, "Come back to the conference room when you're done. We'll finish there."

All of them nodded and Genryusai disappeared in a flash. Yumichika, now worried about time constraints, lined them up and started quickly, "Ok weapons demonstrations. Hikari you first."

Yumichika shunpoed four straw dolls out and waited for the show to start. Hikari whipped out ink and a small strip of paper. After spending about 10 seconds scribbling she thrust the paper on the doll and then ran as fast as she could away from it. The paper exploded. The dummy burned quickly leaving nothing left expect a small pile of ashes.

"Explosive tags." Yumichika noted dryly, "Ayame, you're up next."

Ayame just grabbed the guitar from her back, ran up to the dummy and whacked it. The force behind it demolished the dummy turning back into a pile of straw.

"Rin." Yumichika called, eager to keep the violence rolling.

Rin whipped out a pair of trench knives and proceeded to punch, kick, beat, and batter the dummy, finishing the dizzying combo with an axe kick to the head. Yukiko without bothering to wait for Yumichika to give her instructions to go put her hands into the obi that tied her kimono and yanked out two pistols. They were a pair of matching pistols that had long barrels, handles that curved backwards, and a spiked hand guard. She first shoved the barrel of her left gun straight into the dummy, fired, twisted to the side pulling her left gun out while slamming her right hand guard into the side of the dummy. The dummy fell to ground and Yukiko stepped on its head, fired two shots where the heart was located, and sheathed her guns as if nothing had ever happened.

Yumichika stared blankly at Yukiko for a second, "Interesting…Anyways go to conference room two. Yamamoto-sensei will meet you there."

_The boys with Soi Fon_

The four boys arrived to see Genryusai flashing off while Soi Fon tapped her foot impatiently. They quickly lined up in front of her and she started giving instructions, "First shunpo as far as you can into the bamboo forest. Next light sparring. No weapons, shunpo, kido, whatever Kaien you're with Jin. Sousuke, fight Setsuna. Go!"

The four shot off. Sousuke got only about 20 feet but was surprised to even move forward. Kaien hit 50, Jin 80, and Setsuna, outshining everyone, reached 125 feet with one dash. Soi Fon, standing where the girls had fought, motioned for them to come over.

"Okay, well what are you waiting for? Fight! Come on Kaien, Jin."

"Right, right." Kaien sighed.

The two walked over, ready themselves, and bowed. Jin threw a couple of aimless punches and watched as Kaien dodge without really moving. Kaien moved slovenly, throwing a kick here, a punch there, but not really exerting any effort. Smirking, Jin started to verbally poke at Kaien, "75% chance high round house, 80% of a right hook following."

He continued predicting Kaien's movements and dodged accordingly. Kaien, realizing he couldn't win with a war of counterattacks decided to go on the offensive. He kicked out with a leg sweep and Jin jumped only to have to block a roundhouse kick. Kaien's momentum knocked Jin's guard down pushing him to the side. Kaien immediately went for an axe kick but to his surprise, Jin saw it coming. With one hand Jin shoved Kaien's leg aside and with his other hand planted a solid fist in Kaien's stomach. Kaien fell on his knees, raised his head, and weakly said, "I forfeit."

Soi Fon, somewhat unimpressed at Kaien's willingness to give up and unwillingness to fight, motioned for Sousuke and Setsuna to start. As soon as they bowed, both of them shot off. Sousuke was hard-pressed as Setsuna shot off in a blinding blur of fists, elbows, knees, and legs. Eventually Sousuke, unable to get a hit in, just surrendered. Soi Fon, clearly impressed with Setsuna, had them all line up again. "Sufficient. Now go to the conference room again. Genryusai wants to meet with you. You're dismissed."

Without further ado all four of them hurried back to the conference room.

A/N: Done…sigh….This one was substantially harder to right than the last two. I just hope it's ok. Please review. I need advice and encouragement. Heck I just want something. As you have noticed this chapter is shorter than the last two. I have my reasons for that. I'll be putting character profiles for the OC's. Along with some back story and what not. So for those who read past the authors note, here's a prize.

Next Week: The introduction arc ends in surprisingly tame fashion…Also we learn why Sousuke is so important.

Character Profiles

Explanation: I will be doing half of the main characters. Also age means real age while human means physical appearance.

Name: Kaien Kurosaki

Age: 45 (Human: 17)

Blood Type: AB

Favorite Weapon: Spear

Personality: The epitome of lazy. He's a go with the flow guy who doesn't want to put effort into anything. Despite his personality he's talented so he gets by. A real jack of all trades.

Weapon: B Kido: B Shunpo: B Hakuda: B Intelligence: B Strategy: B Reiatsu Level: B Reiatsu Control: B

Skill Analysis: He's well rounded. Never excels at anything but isn't terrible either. Uses a spear instead of following his mother or father's footstep when it comes to swords.

Inspiration/Trivia: Got his first name from the "rumored" reincarnation of Ichigo, Kaien Shiba. The spear is important. I choose it for a reason rest assured. I wanted to make a character who could be a peacemaker when problems arised.

Name: Setsuna Shuhei

Age: 45 (Human: 18)

Blood Type: A

Favorite Weapon: Nodachi (basically a loner katana)

Personality: The exact flipside of Kaien's personality. He's an earnest hard worker who got his skills by training as soon as he was able to. Had Genryusai not scouted him he would have skipped the academy altogether and joined a squad. He's willing to do almost anything to get stronger, even things that people consider dangerous or just plain stupid.

Weapon: A Kido: A Shunpo: S Hakuda:A Intelligence: C Strategy: D Reiatsu Level: A Reiatsu Control: A

Skill Analysis: A great fighter. He can easily cut his way through enemy ranks. His mom and dad both put him through the training gauntlet. However he's not really Mr. Social and due to the amount of physical training he had, his academic prowess outside of battle related intelligence is lacking because he spent more time training. You don't want him commanding troops. Has never won a board or card game in his life. Also a great chef.

Inspiration/Trivia: Setsuna is the "name" of one of the main characters from the new/old Gundam 00. I figured there should be one Kenpachi/Byakuya overpowered type character.

Name: Yukiko Kukichi

Age: 46 (Human: 17)

Blood Type: O

Favorite Weapon: Dual Pistols

Personality: Unintentionally cold. Always states what's on her mind. This can cause quite a few people to write her off as arrogant or rude but she usually means good. Also has a really short temper which also gives people the misconception that she's bipolar.

Weapon: S Kido: B Shunpo: B Hakuda: B Intelligence: A Strategy: B Reiatsu Level: C Reiatsu Control: S

Skill Analysis: An expert with a pistol. She can easily shoot anything in sight without batting an eyelash. Is working to improve her close range pistol fighting technique. Her temper can single handedly destroy a battle plan but when she is mad (which isn't often) she's a great help.

Inspiration/Trivia: Yukiko is the name of one of the main characters of Persona 4. I wondered what would happen if Byakuya always let his temper get the better of him and boom Yukiko was born. Also her name means Snow Child.

Name: Ayame Hitsugaya

Age: 45 (Human: 15)

Blood Type: AB

Favorite Weapon: Guitar

Personality: Usually cheery she also is shrewd and wise beyond her years. She always remains humble and even attributes the fact that she's a popular idol due to her dad's position and fangirls (although her fans say otherwise).

Weapon: S Kido: B Shunpo: S Hakuda: C Intelligence: A Strategy: S Reiatsu Level: D Reiatsu Control: C

Skill Analysis: She's an expert with her guitar considering that she uses it almost 24/7 and is also a shunpo expert because of the constant running from fanboys and fangirls. She's also a brilliant strategist but low reiatsu levels and lack of a good hand to hand combat style hamper her quite a bit in actual battle.

Inspiration/Trivia: I thought the name up myself but her appearance (and idol identity) came for the vocaloid program Hatsune Miku. She's the happy semi-clueless girl who knows more than she puts on. A pain to write but one of my favorite characters.


	4. Down to Down

A/N: 33 views overnight….Dang…I'm thoroughly impressed. This chapter marks the end of the intro arc. Thanks to Slinviper as my first review and fav/alert. Please keep reading (and reviewing). The more I write the better it will get hopefully. I will try to improve. Soory for the long wait. I had school and other things getting in the way. Now, let the chapter begin!

Disclaimer: Wait! Wait! Forgot the disclaimer. I don't own Bleach. Ahem, let the chapter begin!

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><p>Chapter 4: Down to down<p>

_Don't worry about being confused. I've been here 50 years and all this reaper stuff still doesn't make sense. You learn as you go. Focus, pay attention, and work hard. It will come naturally to you._

Sousuke Agami

Encouraging a group of new recruits

_People are interesting. Learn about them. What you learn about your squad members now could save your life in the future._

Jin Ukitake

Giving a briefing before a squad vacation

As the eight seated themselves Kaien sighed to himself. This had not been a good day. _Getting selected for special classes, getting punched in the stomach. This stinks. Man, for a scrawny man Jin sure can punch…. Ouch my stomach still hurts…_ He thought to himself.

Genryusai, seeing that everyone had arrived, sat down at the head of the table. With a cough he started explaining, "Today may have felt shorter to you."

This got a chorus of assenting nods. "Well we halved class time today because of what I want you to do this afternoon. After this class finishes I will have Hitsugaya-fukutaicho take you to your dorm." Momo, standing at the side of the room thumbing through a kido reference book, waved, "Then explore the dorms, unpack, and whatnot. The only thing I require of you is that you learn more about each other and be courteous by answering Agami-san's questions. As the schedule is as follows. You will start off here will general education. This includes history or any of the theory that you may need to learn as a class. Next you will have a joint kido class. You will then split up into two groups and do shunpo and Hakuda class while the other half will do weapons training. Following that, you will all meet for a joint politics and strategy class. At anytime expect substitutes and give them the same respect you give me. Now for class today I will tell you why I chose each of you individually. Ask questions if you need to. This should be rather easy to figure out for some of you but for others it is a bit harder to see. Kurosaki you start."

_Just my luck_ Kaien thought as he formulated why he was here, "I honestly don't know why I'm here. I mean, I'm lazy, unmotivated, and I don't really stand out at all. I'm sure that there were better choices."

Laughing, Genryusai responded, "Correct."

"Wait… what!"

"You were chosen because you don't stand out. You're an all around kind of person with on weakness. No the other hand you also have no strengths but I decided we needed a man to be able to fill any gap or position with relative competence."

Kaien's expression ranged somewhere from being slapped in the face to shock but decided not to respond. _Man you don't mince your words_.

"Continue around the circle. Kira-san."

"Um… I'm guessing Hakuda skills."

"Right. You have a very specialized role as an extremely close ranged combatant. Being the best at martial arts we needed someone who can spear head an attack and break out of almost any imprisonment based on strength alone."

"I'm next, right?" Said Jin, "Well I can gather information pretty well and make a decent ranged fighter. I'm the scout."

"Correct. I don't think I need to add anything else."

"I'm next." Said Yukiko, brushing a loose strand of hair to the side, "My pistols make me a ranged fighter and the fact that I actually try to keep up with nobility" Yukiko made a point to stare at Kaien. _What? Who cares about arraigned marriage or the newest line of clothing_?

"and their doings keeps me well informed. I'm somewhat versatile as well because I can also fight close range."

"Again no need to add anything else." Genryusai at this point looked impressed.

"I'm next." Setsuna stated in a flat, even tone, "Tank/berserker type. I'm tall, strong, and skilled with every weapon I've laid hands on. I'm no slouch at kido either. I just destroy stuff."

"Shunpo too. You're the man who will lead the charge in battle. Also you make for great public relations. You look just like the younger Kukichi-taicho and you're not married either."

Kaien almost laughed when Setsuna looked embarrassed but decided against it after remembering Setsuna's sword demonstration.

Hikari, looking perfectly smug, continued in the explanation procession, "I am the best in the class at kido and also the smartest. My combat skills involve using paper and seals so I make a much better support and long range fighter than I do a close range one."

"You're the group's true long range fighter. I also have a feeling that you'll take to healing kido well."

"My turn." Said Ayame cheerily with warmth that could melt butter, "I make up the other half of our group's PR and I also am a very good strategist. My shunpo's also really well-developed."

"That is right. You are an important player in both the public eyes and in the strategy room. I expect you to only fight as a last resort." Feeling satisfied with his answer, Genryusai continued speaking, "Sousuke, I'm guessing you have no clue as to why you are here."

"The only thing I can think of is maybe having the ability to push people into the ground with my reiatsu stuff."

"While that is important, I don't think that is the whole story. Would you care to explain?"

Sousuke looked slightly put out as he explained, "I also have the ability to copy anything with in my capacity. The sword move I used earlier I copied off of the shinigami who found me when she defended me from Hollow attack. This also means instant retention. Anything concept I'm taught I remember. So if I read about a kido or weapons technique I can then fire it off without too much difficulty. I don't remember all of my conversations or anything but I'm good when it comes to academic things."

The class reactions varied from surprised to surprisingly smug but before pandemonium could break out Genryusai cut off any questions or whisperings by talking, "Sousuke is the wild card. He's everything yet nothing. Now with the help of the rest of the class, Sousuke could be one of the most powerful shinigami this world has seen. I think that wraps up this class. Hitsugaya-fukutaicho, please escort the group to the dorm."

With that Genryusai walked out of the conference room with only a slight grin on his face. Momo took over, "Alright if everyone can follow me."

As the group walked out of the room chatting about all the ongoing, Kaien just sighed to himself.

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><p>Ayame was excited about the day, thrilled almost. As the group walked to the dorms, Ayame took the opportunity to talk with her mom about the day and its ongoings. The two continued talking until Momo's face lit up as if she had forgotten something. Digging around her sleeves she quickly pulled some stone bracelets out.<p>

"Sousuke-kun." She called, "Come here."

Sousuke, offering a quick apology to Rin and Setsuna, moved his way up through the group until he was at the front with Momo and Ayame. "Yes?"

"Here, put these on." She handed Sousuke the bracelets.

"What do they-Whoa!" Sousuke almost plowed headfirst into the ground.

"They're sekki-sekki bracelets. They limit the amount of reiatsu you can use. When you passed out earlier, that was from reiatsu exhaustion. Reiatsu exhaustion is…"

Ayame, tuning her mom out, took some time taking Sousuke in. _A red, scraggly of hair, brown eyes, well toned body, Wait what I am thinking !_

Sousuke turned to her, "Are you okay?"

Ayame, shaking herself out of her dazed state, blinked a couple times, "Wha? Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Sousuke smiled in relief and Ayame found herself trying to hide a blush, "Oh okay good. My apologies, Hinamori-sensei please continue."

"No no it's okay. It was almost finished. The last thing you need to know is that if you can't remove them the release button is right here pointing to the slight indention in the otherwise flawless masonry. Other people won't even recognize it as a limiter though so don't worry about people asking questions. Oh! We've arrived. Ok people we're here."

The dorms looked more like a small estate than a dormitory. It was a massive two store building surrounded by a traditional Japanese wall complete with pointed tile. A beautiful garden surrounded the building. All eight of them looked at least somewhat impressed with the caliber of the estate.

"Please come inside. I'll show you around then we can eat lunch then you can meet the person in charge of the dorms and we'll eat lunch."

They walked through outer gate Momo opened up the sliding front door. The landing area was completely different from the outside. The room resembled an 18th century Victorian mansion with a large open floor space, a giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and two large, curving staircases in the back leading to a balcony. Doors dotted the wall in all four cardinal directions. Momo smiled at the simultaneous jaw drops of her pupils and explained the features, "This is the landing room. You can receive people here. Your mail is also delivered here. To your left is the kitchen, to your right is the armory and forge is below it. Straight across under the stairs is the storage room. Above in on the second floor is the ballroom. Up there to the left is the dorms. On the right is a recreation area. Okay then let's visit the armory."

As they entered each of them couldn't help but be staggered by the amount of weaponry there. Sword, spears, guns, knives, and a menagerie of weapons in every possible design covered the wall. In the back was a staircase with a sign that read forge. The group continued through the room speechless and continued down the stairs and entered the forge. The room was a large rounded earthen room. Bellows and a forge were located in the back while many of the addition tools were neatly organized at the room's wall.

"This is the forge." Said Momo, "There are a few rules for using it though but seeing as how none of you actually know much about metalworking and already have asauchi, I'll leave it alone for now. Come on. I'll show you the upstairs."

The eight quickly scaled the staircase, exited into the reception room, then moved up the curving staircase. Momo, laughing to herself, motioned from them to enter the recreation area. This room was larger than the reception room and on the left side was a giant wall of books. The back held a giant TV complete with a speaker system and the right held a veritable anthology of anything and everything that could be considered music. The eight dispersed to look at the room and Ayame was pleased to find her music CDs all together in one section. After about five minutes of looking around Momo said, "Okay we need to move on."

Everyone moved to the door except Hikari who was sucked into a book. Setsuna, not missing a beat, slung Hikari over the shoulder that wasn't holding his nodachi and walked right out of the room, much to the amusement of his companions. As she was too busy reading, she didn't even notice. The group continued walking or in Hikari's case, being carried until they reached the ballroom. The purpose of the room was self-explanatory so the group strode in. The ballroom had a simple setup. It was a large circular room with one large chandelier hanging from above. Due to the room's purposes the group just turned around and left red from the possibilities of what could happen in there. No one wanted to dance with one another…yet. Trekking to the dorms quickly, the group found two doors, a red one that read girls and a blue one that read boys. Splitting up the two groups, the boys and girls checked out there rooms. Unlike the splendor of the previous rooms, this one was simpler. Each of the two dorms rooms had four futons lying on the floor, a bookshelf for borrowed books, and one four drawer cabinets for their clothes. In the back was a closet full of empty hangers. The group's trek ended as they went over to the kitchen

Hungry from the day the group entered into the kitchen. There was a refrigerator and freezer on the right side with a pantry right next to it. The back was lined with a sink, dish washer, oven, a microwave, and a large counter while on the left was a giant cabinet filled with different cook ware. In the center of the room was a large table with enough room to seat at least ten people. A young lady was scrambling back and forth working on what seemed like four or five dishes at the same time. Everyone looked at each other confused as who the blond lady was except Kaien who just held his head.

"Meet my aunt, Yuzu Kurosaki."

The blond kept working without noticing anything so the group, Momo included sat down and waited. Five minutes later sandwiches of all variety covered the table and only then did Yuzu notice the group.

"Oh! I didn't every notice you were here. My apologies. I'm your dorm leader Yuzu Kurosaki. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please enjoy and spend the afternoon at your leisure."

The group quickly applauded and tore through the sandwiches quickly. After lunch the group dispersed.

And the adventure known as death goes on

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><p>AN: Hello again…And here marks the end of the introduction arc and the beginning of the next. What is it? Well read and find out. Also the new arc signals a hopefully improved writing style but I guarantee nothing. Some goodies for the people who read this author's note. I will be adding the second half of my character profiling. Yay! For all those who don't recognize that last line it's a pun based on star driver known for using the line, "And the adventure known as life goes on." Also the title of this chapter down to down comes from the fate/extra ost where the main character meet with his/her servant in their headquaters. Since the groups has moved into their dorms, I think it's fitting. Anyways please review. I need feedback in order to change and improve. Thanks and see you all soon. Also I do realize that this chapter is shorter than the earlier ones while don't worry the next few whil hopefully make up for that.

Next week: Class starts…fights, frights, character development…

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><p>Character Profiles<p>

Explanation: I will be doing half of the main characters. Also age means real age while human means physical appearance.

Name: Jin Ukitake

Age: 50 (Human: 18)

Blood Type: A

Favorite Weapon: Concealed knife and wire

Personality: A true information gatherer. He always knows and goes to great lengths to stay informed. The amount of effort he's willing to put into his work is scary but he enjoys it. He loves confusing people by being unclear.

Weapon: A Kido: B Shunpo: C Hakuda: C Intelligence: A Strategy: A Reiatsu Level: C Reiatsu Control: A

Skill Analysis: An expert at gathering information. He can "wiretap" people with his wires.

Inspiration/Trivia: He's almost a carbon copy of the original Jin in looks but thinks far broader in terms of motive. You'll see.

Name: Rin Kira

Age: 43 (Human: 12)

Blood Type: O

Favorite Weapon: Fists; gauntlets, trench knives

Personality: A firecracker. She's always energetic and bouncy. Quick to anger, she always fights with Yukiko, who just acts blunt.

Weapon: S Kido: D Shunpo: A Hakuda: S Intelligence: D Strategy: C Reiatsu Level: B Reiatsu Control: D

Skill Analysis: Can easily punch through walls. One flick from her could easily send a fully-grown man through buildings.

Inspiration/Trivia: I don't know where I got this idea honestly. She is truly the most underdeveloped character I have. Sorry

Name: Hikari Kyoraku

Age: 45 (Human: 15)

Blood Type: B

Favorite weapon: Books, seals, whips

Personality: She's haughty, stuck-up, and arrogant. The perfect tsundere. She loves books more than life itself. She's way too smart for her age and she knows it to.

Weapons: F Kido: S Shunpo: D Hakuda: D Intelligence: S Strategy: S Reiatsu Level: C Reiatsu Control: A

Skill Analysis: She's brilliant at anything conceptual. Capable of casting a full power level 60 hado. Can also read several books at the same time

Inspiration/Trivia: She's actually a mix of inspirations for both the main females of from both Gosick and the Mysterious Archives of Dantalian. Her character appearance is a dead ringer for the second anime.

Name: Sousuke Agami

Age: 17 (Human: 17)

Blood Type: O

Favorite weapon: Katana (nothing special)

Personality: He's base. He is often confused but doesn't really have much of a personality. He's laid-back and serious at the same time.

Weapons: F Kido: F Shunpo: F Hakuda: F Intelligence: F Strategy: F Reiatsu Level: S Reiatsu Control: F

Skill Analysis: Instant retention. The reason all of his skills are F's is because regardless of powerful his kido is or how good his weapon skills are, copying can only get you so far. He can't control his reiatsu muscles yet.

Inspiration: For those who look closely they should see a resemblance between Sousuke and Aizen. He also looks like Irie Shouichi from KHR. You will definitely get a kick out of his zanpakuto.


	5. Politics

A/N: Shiro's back…yep…much less views than last time…well no matter I'm starting the new arc! YEAH! Anyways please enjoy. And also review, review, review.

Disclaimer: Bleach doesn't belong to me… That is all.

Chapter 5: Politics

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><p><em>We have been weakened by the Winter Wars. That is an indisputable fact. The largest problem however came not from the enemy but from our own armies. We truly only had 28 people who from Soul Society who could fight. Three of them betrayed us, One was rendered almost an invalid by disease and we forced another to a desk job. I believe we all know who I am referring to. Therefore we need to make a stronger breed of shinigami. We cannot be weak! We have our duty and pride as soul reapers on the line and we cannot afford to back down!<em>

Yamamoto Genryusai

25 years ago, explaining the reason why as his last act as Head Captain he was raising both graduation and seated officer requirements in front of the entire assembly of shinigami before instating Toshiro Hitsugaya as head captain.

_Sigh… So he creates a new law, leaves, and I get the flak. Yah…Bite me._

Toshiro Hitsugaya

25 years ago, whispering sarcastically to his wife Momo before getting his promotion.

_There we go again, old men and their stupid arguments. What a pain._

Toshiro Hitsugaya

50 years ago, complaining at a captain's meeting where they were deciding what to do with Gin Ichimaru for letting the Ryoka escape.

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><p><em>The Next Day<em>

As the girls walked back to conference room 2 for the politics and strategy class, Yukiko reflected on how the previous day had gone. After setting up in the dorms, the group had gathered back in kitchen where Setsuna had proven himself a very good cook. Afterwards, exhausted by the day's events they quickly went to sleep. She was very pleased the facilities and was looking forward to her classes. The next day had been much of the same. They had gotten up, eaten breakfast, and had attended their first three classes. The group of girls entered into conference room and sat down next to the boys who had already arrived. Genryusai entered soon after and the class was called into session.

"Today I will be reviewing our political system, nobility, and how to deal with them and their implications. We have three political bodies the first is the Gotei 13 headed by Hitsugaya Soutaicho."

"So he's the captain in charge of the military branch." Asked Sousuke.

"That is correct. Now the only reason the Gotei 13 has so much power is because we are literally the most powerful. Due to the fact that we are the only group that is legally allowed to wield weapons and able to wield reiatsu properly, we are given power and a certain amount of leeway. Since we are the military, we make up the police force and hollow killing force. The Gotei 13 is made of 13 squads, each with a different function. The first deals with relationships between us and the Central 46. They are also in charge of the Gotei 13. The second deals with stealth missions and imprisonment and apart from the main brigade had a separate division known as the Oumitsukido which specializes in assassination and espionage. The third is in charge of communication. I remember many a time when Gin was asked to deliver a message he would stab the message onto Shinso and fire it at however he was delivering the message to. The 4th is in charge of both the medical brigade and sewer cleaning. The fifth is our version of the Kido Corps. They specialize in kido and although not as much as the Kido Corps. The sixth is the least mobile brigade most in charge of the hollow defense in the Seireitei and are the model Shinigami. They are also responsible for communication with the council of nobility. The seventh is the brigade in charge of hollow combat in the Rukongai. The eighth is the support brigade. They are in charge of helping wherever we fall short in terms of numbers. The ninth brigade is in charge of criminal justice. They hunt down and capture criminals or traitors."

"Wait." Sousuke interrupted, "I thought the second was in charge of that."

Setsuna answered him, "The only difference between the two is if you want your target dead or alive."

"Well that and the fact that the second act more like secret police while the ninth act more like normal police." Ayame added helpfully

"Both of you are correct. The ninth is also responsible for production of the newspaper for the Seireitei." Said Genryusai, trying to continue, "The tenth is in charge of public relations. They also act as the back-up for the 13th which are in charge of real world hollow elimination. The 11th is the combat brigade. They are the exact opposite of the 5th as they focus only on strengthening their swords and nothing else. The 12th is our research and development department. They run the Shinigami Research and Development Institution or the SRDI."

"Next political body is the Central 46 which is made of 36 sages and 10 judges. They act as the judges. They are experts of the law and if you get arrested, they will be your judge, jury and executioner."

"Last of the political bodies is Council of Nobility. The only requirement really is to be a landowner. Our system here is feudalism. You own land and the people living on that land serve you. In the Council of Nobility there are four levels. You have the lower court, middle court, high court, and the four great houses. The lower court is made mostly of retainers to the families of the upper court or four houses or private landowners. The families are Ukitake, Fon, Sasikibe, Yayoi, Kisaragi, Shishigami, Yamada, Kira, Iba, Madarame, Omoto, Hanazawa, Imai, Tsuyoshi, Kira, and Ayasegawa. The middle court is made of businessmen who own more land. Families include Nobunaga, Nero, Akiyama, Ishii, Sawada, Mukuro, Sakamoto, and Makoto. They are made up of either families directly related to the four great houses, founders of Soul Society or high end business man. They include the Hikifune, Kyoraku, Yamamoto, Unohana, Urahara, and the newly instated Kurosaki. The four great houses are the highest class of nobility there is in Soul Society. They are the Shiba, Shihōin, Kukichi, and Arisato. They met once every year for three days to discuss laws and fix problems. The actual legislation process works by everyone bring motions to the group and voting. Lower court representatives gets one vote, Middle court representatives gets two votes, Upper court representatives get three votes, and the house representatives get four votes. The school has their own version of this which you will be participating in if you are a member of nobility. It will be meeting in 3 months after our preliminaries for the interschool tournament."

Gin, Yukiko, Kaien, Rin, and Hikari nodded.

Genryusai continued, "Now that I've explained the political system to you, I want you to answer a few questions. Hmm…Okay tell me the importance of the marriage between Yumichika Ayasegawa and Soi Fon."

Kaien shrugged saying in an uninterested voice, "It's nothing more than gossip."

Jumping up immediately, Yukiko shouted, "NO! This is politics!"

"Care to explain your outburst, Kukichi-san." Said Genryusai, clearly amused.

"Uh..um." Yukiko collected herself and focused, "When the Fon-Sensei and Ayasegawa-Sensei married they formed something of a political alliance between the families. The Fons are the retainers to the Shihōin; this means that the Ayasegawas would be excepted to vote for Shihōin bills at legislature. They also lose their ability to vote independent."

"Wait can I ask a quick question?' Sousuke interrupted, "Is that really the reason they got together? Only for politics?"

"No no no. Ya got it all wrong." Jin replied, "Soi Fon and Yumichika both left their divisions for different reasons. Soi Fon left because she decided that Yoriuchi Shihōin would make a better captain while Yumichika left because he had a kido based Zanpakuto in a combat based divisions."

Most of the room was shaking their head at that comment. Everyone knew that the Eleventh division was famous for their anti-kido policy.

"They ran into each other and well…Yumichika is beauty obsessed and saw a buried gem in Soi Fon. He made her feel more like a woman and less like a cold-hearted assassin."

"Hmm…okay"

The class continued for a while longer with Genryusai drilling the class on political implications and alliances. At the end of class, Genryusai made announcements.

"In three months we will have preliminaries for the interschool tournament."

Sousuke interrupted, "What is this tournament anyways? I thought we were the only school that trained Shinigami."

"We may be the only school that trains shinigami but we don't train vizards, arrancar, or quincies." Yamamoto answered succulently, "The vizards and the espada formed a school together in the remains of Las Noches in Hueco Mundo while the quincies formed their own school in their independent zone in the Seireitei."

"Wha…"

Sousuke was cut off as Hikari answered him somewhat annoyed, "Arrancar, hollows who have shinigami powers. Vizards, shinigami who have hollow powers. Quincy, spiritually aware humans who manifested power to protect themselves."

Yamamoto continued his explanation, "We have interschool tournaments once a year as a way to determine our strength against the other two schools, ensure that nobody is too powerful, and encourage rivalry and good sportsmanship. There are also prizes for winning. The preliminaries eliminate all the weak people from the tournament and narrowing our numbers. The tournament isn't a given, it's a privilege."

Suddenly a small butterfly flew straight through the wall and landed on Genryusai's finger. After waiting for a few moments he nodded grimly. The students stared at him expectantly.

"Hollows have materialized on campus. We're under attack."

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><p>AN: A shorter chapter, I know but please bear with me. I was actually going to make this as part of one chapter but the politics section went a little long. I think that shorter chapters might be better for digestibility. Please review.

A teaser:

"Ayame you're in charge. Gather students and fight off the invasion until help arrives."

"So this is shikai…fun"


End file.
